School is Fun Now

All through high school, classes were something I usually regarded with apathy. I was going to learn regardless, but I wasn't necessarily going to enjoy it. Now, though, I look forward to my classes. Not only am I going to learn something, but I'm going to enjoy learning it. Take physics. In high school, physics sucked. I'm not naming any specific reasons, but take my word for it. In college, physics is pretty awesome. The professor is enthusiastic, and the class pays attention. No card games are involved.

After a few days of classes, I'm enjoying being back on campus. It's odd that a good chunk of my friends have graduated, but I'm dealing. I've taken a part in a week-long production of Grease, as Sonny (beg pardon if you don't know who that is; I didn't either, having never seen the play or the movie). Suffice to say that I'm not John Travolta (or Olivia Newton-John).

A friend is directing a production of Macbeth this fall that I may try out for as well. As always, I will be doing BMR; I will be running for dorm president next week. I'm working for the bookstore and for the school radio station this year, as music director for blues, country, gospel and soul. I now receive CDs from less well known artists with personal notes enclosed.

On to some less related issues...

iTunes has introduced "Genius Mixes," which as far as I can tell is an attempt to order shuffle by genre. Which is unfortunate, since iTunes assigns genres fairly inaccurately.

Enough for now. I'm happy enough listening to the Beatles sing "Sie Liebt Dich."

Summer winds down

Finished working today. This marks the first summer I have not worked two jobs. It also marks the first summer I wasn't making minimum wage. I'm moving up in the world!

I now have until September 3rd before I head back to Maine; classes start September 9th. Plans are not concrete, but do include a trip to Chicago for the last four days of August. Go Megabus!

The usual bitching about my fantasy squad: hitting is on fire; my pitching staff is having a meltdown. Which is frustrating, considering the quality of the pitchers I have. So it should turn around...hopefully. I'm not excited about a third-place finish.

For the next week, before heading to Chi-town, I am planning on doing a lot of reading, and a lot of sleeping. Also some general hanging out, and definitely hitting Jungle Jim's before leaving. Once I get inside, I can still forget that the outside is horribly like a strip mall.

I have far too many books to read. I finished "Fool," the latest from Christopher Moore. If you haven't read it, and enjoy King Lear, read it. If not, pick up "The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal." It's hilarious. Next on the agenda is "Shadow and Light," a noir mystery set in Weimar Berlin. One of the characters is Fritz Lang. Need I say more?

I'm also perpetuating my love of war histories with "The Day of Battle," the second of Rick Atkinson's fantastic trilogy about the North African/European theater of World War II. This one's about the battles for Sicily and Italy, and is a fascinating read. To me, at least.

I also plan on rereading Italo Calvino's "If on a winter's night a traveler," because it's a great read. Just sayin'.

Anyway, that's it from me. Enjoy some music, on me.

It's almost Halloween

The year goes on, sometimes crawling, sometimes racing. I have another round of tests in the next two weeks; it's very strange to think that the semester is close to half over. It still doesn't feel like I've been here very long, although I wouldn't mind going home for a bit. Just a bit, though. Three months at home takes more time than this to wear off completely.

Heard "Gone" from Golden Smog in the dining hall today, and was a little bit excited to hear it there. A sampling of music from the so-called "supergroup." And a little bit extra. Daniel out.


SeeqPod - Playable Search

Yet more randomness

I've been rather prolific lately...it may have something to do with the glut of free time that winter break translates to. Of course, I'll have far too much free time in January as well, but at least then I'll be at school, with complimentary distractions.

Today I introduce you to the fascinating world of dorm life at Colby, using my own experience. The basic (weekday) schedule is as follows:

1. Wake up. This could be at any time, but during the week generally occurs at about 7 or 7:15.

2. Shower. My room is pretty much in the middle of the building, so I leave in pajamas, walk past four rooms, head to the bathroom. Waking up at 7 in the morning has its perks: I hardly ever have to share the bathroom. It also means that there are very few witnesses to my towel-wrapped walk back to my room.

3. Get dressed. Quickly, because the room is cold. Once shivering has stopped, pack the backpack and load up the pockets, because we're headed outside.

4. Breakfast. Choose from any of our three dining halls: Dana, Foss, or Roberts (Bobs). Generally Bobs is good for breakfast, as it's closest to the dorm.

5. Class. In the event that waking up did not occur right at 7, it is likely that the previous step of breakfast will have been skipped, and I will have proceeded directly to class. Class will then take up the morning.

6. Lunch. Usually at Bobs, but occasionally Dana or Foss. In the coming semester, there will be very little time for lunch. My schedule on Mondays and Wednesdays will begin at 9 and end at 6 and 4 respectively. Breaks? I don't need no stinkin' breaks!

7. Work/Lab. Again, this will probably be changing next semester. I work at the campus bookstore, doing things like shelving product, doing inventory checks, and receiving shipped items. The fun, it never ends. Or I could be in bio or chem lab. Also fun.

8. Chorale. On Mondays and Thursdays, 4-6. Non-sarcastic fun. Chorale is one of my favorite things about Colby, and I can't wait to go on tour.

9. Dinner. Usually Dana, occasionally Foss. If I can help it, not Bobs, which is truly terrible for dinner.

10. Fun. Usually playing cards/hanging out downstairs. If there's an exam coming up, I study. The wonderful thing about two sciences, math and a language is that there's very little busy work.

Weekend schedule alterations:

1. Sleep may continue until noon or beyond, but I like to wake up early. The hours of daylight are already too few as is.

4. At Foss, if I can. Foss features do-it-yourself waffles, which when dosed with whipped cream are amazingly delicious. Also, hash browns.

5. Not on the weekends. Thank goodness.

6. Breakfast and lunch are one and the same. There's allegedly a separate breakfast at the student union, but it's not worth it.

7. On the weekends? You've got to be kidding me. The only time I ever worked at the bookstore on a Saturday, I slept in, got there late, and then spent three hours reading at the cash register.

9. Anywhere but Bobs. Very rarely, we order in Thai or pizza.

10. All day long on the weekends. Also, lots of movie watching.

That's pretty much a summary of what I do at school...aside from the occasional social event or interesting lecture, it's pretty monotonous. However, it's an entertaining monotony. That sounds...good? Well, I like it. Seems to me that's the part that matters anyway.

Madness

I learned the hard way yesterday that "ex-students" may not visit the school during the school day. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Hi
Security Guard: Can I help you?
Me: Yeah, I'd like to visit a few teachers
Security Guard: Do you have an appointment?
Me: Um...sure.
Security Guard: Are you a student?
Me: Well, I'm an ex-student...
Security Guard: You can't visit now. You can come back after school is over.

That pretty much covers it...but why can't I come in? The security guards all know me from the four years I walked the halls as a student. They know I'm no real threat to anybody. Are they worried I'd cause a distraction in class? On the last day of school before break, no less? They're right, I'd probably just crash the class party, and nobody wants that. I didn't really want to swing back around that afternoon, but I'll be back. Look for me when school's back in session - after school is over, of course. I wouldn't want to disrupt class.

And the obligatory video link: It was pretend to be a time traveler day two Saturdays ago, and this is what resulted.

Monday Monday

Although it did just become Tuesday as I began this post...

So it's almost Thanksgiving, which is nice because it's almost the end of term. I get the end of next week off, and I'll be in Portland for five or so days. Then back to school, and two or three weeks of class and then finals, and then home again home again, until early January. I can't wait...I'm not homesick - never have been, not likely to be - but I just want off of this campus for more than a day or two at a time. I want to sleep in my old bed, see all my buddies, even visit the high school and check up with some teachers. Even if they try to turn me away, I'll just come around back and tap on some windows until I get in. I especially want to see my cat, though. Anybody who knows me knows I'm an animal lover - I work at a vet clinic, I have always owned at least one pet - and it's hard being without a pet when I'm used to seeing forty or more in a day. So I'm really glad to be coming home in a little more than a month.

This week should be light on the schoolwork...biology exam on Wednesday, but it's over basic stuff. Props to Mrs Heckman for teaching me about DNA, transcription, translation, mitosis, glycolysis, Krebs cycle and photosynthesis. I get the results of the latest chemistry exam on Wednesday too...thermochem and redox. I have the feeling I screwed up at least one thermochem question, but redox isn't a problem for me. Props to Mr. Dusch for that...Mozilla just told me that "Dusch" isn't in my dictionary. Odd...you'd think of all last names that that'd be in there.

And so I begin to ramble. Please excuse me, it is past midnight, and it's been a rather extended day. Mondays are generally unfriendly; they start with calculus at eight, then chem at nine. Italian follows at ten, then bio at eleven, succeeded by lunch at noon. By one I'm in bio lab (I have a picture of gel electrophoresis I need to scan in...it's so cool). Depending on how long lab runs, I have anywhere from an hour to ten minutes to grab my music and get to chorale by four. Then we sight read Mozart and Benjamin Britten for two hours. Then it's time for dinner with the freshman gang from the dorm (you'll eventually be introduced to most of them through this blog), and then it's work/play time. Tonight was playtime, as we didn't get much done beyond several games of Durak and watching a couple episodes of our favorite reality show (other than Survivor), The Amazing Race. There is a Colby edition of Survivor in the works, hopefully to be uploaded to Youtube before the spring semester ends. Spoiler Alert: I get voted off early!

Alright...I should probably get some sleep. As in stop blogging. Just to add a picture...